Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** BLM backs Dolores River protection bill
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Friday, December 2, 2022
The Dolores River Canyon, Center for Western Priorities ([link removed])
The number two official at the Bureau of Land Management told Congress that the agency supports a bill to protect the Dolores River ([link removed]) and surrounding landscape in southwest Colorado. The legislation would protect more than 68,000 areas of public lands, including 45,000 acres of BLM-managed lands and 15,000 acres of national forest.
Nada Wolff Culver, BLM's deputy director of policy and programs, testified during a committee hearing for the Dolores River National Conservation Area and Special Management Area Act ([link removed]) , saying the bill ([link removed]) “continues Colorado’s long tradition of locally driven conservation efforts guided by the people who live and recreate in western Colorado to protect these special places for future generations.”
The bill is backed by Democratic senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper in the Senate, and all three of Colorado's Republican representatives, Lauren Boebert, Doug Lamborn, and Ken Buck, introduced identical legislation in the House ([link removed]) .
During the hearing, Bennet said the bill was the product of nearly two decades of compromise, and the resulting legislation protects native fish, honors water rights, provides certainty for farms and ranches, and helps Colorado's outdoor recreation economy.
“The bill represents a balanced, sensible way forward to resolve many of the longstanding disagreements, protect the river for all parties and provide long-term certainty for generations,” Bennet said ([link removed]) .
Earlier this year, the Center for Western Priorities visited the Dolores River Canyon ([link removed]) as part of our Road to 30: Postcards ([link removed]) multimedia series.
** Podcast: How Biden can reach 30x30
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Even bipartisan bills like the Dolores Act face an uphill battle in the next Congress, where a narrowly divided House appears unlikely to pass any major legislation. On the latest episode of CWP's podcast, The Landscape ([link removed]) , Aaron and Kate talk to Drew McConville and Sam Zeno from the Center for American Progress about their new report ([link removed]) , which identifies the top eight actions Biden can take to meet his America the Beautiful goal of protecting 30 percent of American lands and waters by 2030. Listen now ([link removed]) or subscribe on Apple Podcasts ([link removed]) .
Quick hits
** Officials fear ‘complete doomsday scenario’ for drought-stricken Colorado River as Colorado River Compact turns 100
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Washington Post ([link removed]) | NPR ([link removed]) | Nevada Independent ([link removed])
** Tucson offers to conserve 'significant volumes' of Colorado River water in exchange for compensation—but only if California does as well
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12News ([link removed])
** COP15 explainer: Why the world needs a new deal to protect nature
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Reuters ([link removed])
** Biden administration won't say if it will meet self-imposed deadline on conservation atlas
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E&E News ([link removed])
** Nevada toad, threatened by geothermal power plant, gets endangered species protection
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Las Vegas Review Journal ([link removed]) | Nevada Current ([link removed]) | Reuters ([link removed]) | Courthouse News ([link removed])
** Wyoming files another lawsuit over canceled oil lease sales, even though auctions are scheduled
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Wyoming Public Media ([link removed])
** New estimates find more magma under Yellowstone supervolcano
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New York Times ([link removed]) | New Scientist ([link removed])
** ‘Mind control’ parasites influence wolf pack dynamics in Yellowstone
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CNN ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” The critical part about what’s been happening and what climate change ([link removed]) is forcing us to do is: We have to look more at the extremes. We’ve got to plan for the low end.”
—Tom Buschatzke, Arizona Department of Water Resources, Washington Post ([link removed])
Picture this
** @denalinps ([link removed])
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You are dreaming.
Someone shakes you awake with a strange request: “Hey, hey come outside.”
The temperature is 20 below zero, but you don’t feel cold. You tilt your head toward the sky.
How long do you stay watching?
NPS photos
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